2005-01-27 04:00:00 PDT Sacramento -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger accused lawmakers Wednesday of stalling his reform agenda and vowed to use to his favorite political tool -- campaign visits to shopping malls -- to build public support and bypass the Legislature to enact his education, budget and government overhaul proposals.

Schwarzenegger, speaking at a luncheon of the Sacramento Press Club, characterized lawmakers as unwilling to work and said he would frame the battle over his platform this year as "the governor, with his partner, the people of California, against the legislators."

But as the supremely confident governor insisted voters would side with him, a new statewide poll suggested a significant decline in his popularity among Democrats and other cracks in his support in handling key issues. A Public Policy Institute of California survey showed that Democrats were more likely to disapprove of Schwarzenegger than support him, a change from last year, and overall, fewer voters think he is doing a good job handling education and the budget.

Mark Baldassare, director of the poll, said the numbers illustrated a dip in the bipartisan support the Republican governor has enjoyed since running for office in 2003 and a danger to someone who will need some Democratic and independent voters to win at the ballot box.

Schwarzenegger is still far more popular overall than the Legislature, however, and he portrayed lawmakers Wednesday as standing in the way of change. The governor called Jan. 5 for a special legislative session aimed at enacting proposals that would privatize state workers' pensions, make across- the-board budget cuts under certain circumstances, base teachers' salaries on merit instead of tenure and strip lawmakers of their power to set up voting districts.

The governor complained that three weeks later, "nothing is going on."

"Maybe a part-time Legislature isn't that bad an idea after all," he said. "That's what they are right now."

Republican lawmakers, anti-tax advocates and other Schwarzenegger supporters have developed ballot initiatives mimicking the governor's reform proposals should they fail in the Legislature. The governor seemed to conclude Wednesday that was a probability, saying he would begin in March to promote the initiatives and help gather signatures to place them on a ballot. He said he would call for a special election this year, which most political insiders believe would be held in November.

"You will see me at Costcos," Schwarzenegger said. "You will see me out at shopping malls as we gather signatures ... and making sure we get all those things on the ballot."

The do-nothing charge infuriated Democrats, who pointed out they were holding hearings Wednesday on Schwarzenegger's budget proposal.

"The governor needs to begin to worry that he's turning into the boy who cried wolf," said Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, who sits on the Senate budget committee, which met Wednesday with Tom Campbell, Schwarzenegger's top budget adviser. "Perhaps if he walked upstairs every so often he would see the work going on evaluating his so-called 'reforms.' "

Kuehl and other Democrats also noted that lawmakers had difficulty meeting last week because many Republicans were attending President Bush's inauguration in Washington.

Sen. George Runner, R-Lancaster, and Assembly Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield, who are carrying bills that would enact parts of the governor's agenda, were both in Washington for part of last week. Schwarzenegger also attended.

Democratic lawmakers have announced they will hold community meetings around the state to discuss the governor's proposals. While Schwarzenegger dismissed the hearings as stalling, Assemblyman Dario Frommer, D-Glendale, said they were partly to come up with better ideas. He argued that Schwarzenegger's proposals weren't popular.

"Unfortunately, the voters are not buying the reform the governor is offering," said Frommer, the Democratic Majority Leader in the Assembly, who went on to invite Schwarzenegger "to come and talk to the PTA presidents and the parents I've talked to who are absolutely angered" by the governor's proposals.

Democrats argue that the governor has adapted a conservative agenda out of step with what Californians want. They also prefer to talk about the governor's proposed budget for next year, which does not fund education as much as state law requires and borrows money from transportation funds to help plug the deficit.

The poll, released today, is one of the first signs that Schwarzenegger's popularity among some Californians is slipping. He still has enviable overall ratings -- 60 percent of voters think of him favorably.

But 51 percent of Californians disapprove of Schwarzenegger's handling of schools, and his approval ratings on directing the state's budget dipped from 54 percent last year to 48 percent this year, according to the poll, which was taken Jan. 11-18 and included 2,002 respondents. It had a margin of error of 2 percentage points.

Most of the declining numbers were Democrats changing their minds about the governor, pollster Baldassare said. For example, 72 percent of Democrats asked about Schwarzenegger's handling of schools said they disapproved.

The poll did show more people supported than opposed the governor's plans for pension changes, redistricting and spending cuts, however, but also indicated less than half -- 45 percent -- thought a special election this year was a good idea. Only 24 percent of likely voters approve of a special election when told it might cost the state $50 million. .

Governor's report card
A new survey assesses Californians' attitudes toward Gov. Schwarzenegger.
-- Do you approve or disapprove of the way Gov. Schwarzenegger is handling . . .
Approve Disapprove Don't know
Reforming
California
government 58% 30% 12%
Jobs
and the
economy 56% 32% 12%
The state
budget
and taxes 48% 41% 11%
Transportation
and traffic
congestion 35% 37% 28%
The states
K-12 public
education system 34% 51% 15%
-- When it comes to the tough choices involved in the current state budget,
both in deciding how much Californians should pay in taxes and how to fund
state programs, whose approach do you most prefer?
Gov. Schwarzenegger's 29%
Democrats' in the Legislature 35
Republicans' in the Legislature 18
Other answer 4
Don't know 14
-- Overall, do you have a favorable or an unfavorable impression of the
plans and policies for California that Gov. Schwarzenegger presented in his
State of the State speech?
Favorable 42%
Unfavorable 32
Haven't heard about the speech 18
Don't know 8
Results based on a telephone survey of 2,002 California adult residents
interviewed between Jan. 11-18, 2005. Interviews were conducted in English and
Spanish. The sampling error is plus or minus 2 percentage points.
Source: Public Policy Institute of California and the James Irvine
Foundation
The Chronicle